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I'd like to address a very meat-and-potatoes bit of info that very rarely gets mentioned. Who should I emulate to be a session guitarist? The answers and the reasons for each may very well surprise you. You might assume you know how to play like these guys, but, until you really try it, you do not know how!

Feast your eyes on Steve Vai’s Ibanez JEM guitar he named “Evo” after the Dimarzio Evolution pickups installed in it. Photographed by Lisa S. Johnson in Los Angeles, August 28, 2010, for the pictorial masterwork, 108 Rock Star Guitars, “Evo” was hand-selected by Vai. Guitars are like snowflakes in that no two are exactly alike.

Most guitarists at one point or another in their development have gone through some sort of “I want a custom guitar” phase. Whether it’s a funky paint job or a radical new shape, a custom ax presents the opportunity to express yourself. Or, in the opinion of some, the opportunity to say, “Hey, look at me, I’m a horse’s arse!”

Last night, Eddie Van Halen spoke at Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian National Museum of American History and Zocalo Public Square as part of the institution's "What It Means to Be American" series. The Dutch-born Van Halen discussed his American journey, "his role in creating one of the biggest American rock bands of all time and how he has reinvented the way the guitar is played and designed." He answered the question, "Is rock 'n' roll about reinvention?"

Nearly two decades after making their last and most influential record, 'Slaughter of the Soul,' Gothenburg’s melodic death metal progenitors At the Gates come back with a vengeance on 'At War with Reality.'

Below, check out the latest photo gallery of Guitar World magazine covers. This time, we "cover" 2008 through 2014. Because we're in a "completist" mood, this photo gallery also includes all the different variations of certain covers, including four different versions of an Eddie Van Halen cover from 2009.

Let's be real: When I was doing research for this list, I came across some really sick album covers. So sick they made a Cannibal Corpse album look like something you'd frame and give to your parents to hang over their mantle at Christmas.